The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Salvia plant botanically known as Salvia nemorosa and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Sky Blue Marvel’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Hem, The Netherlands during August 2010. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Salvia cultivars having large flowers and compact growth habits.
The new Salvia cultivar was the result of open-pollination within an insect-cage environment of three proprietary Salvia nemorosa breeding selections coded JO81-1, JO81-2, and JO81-3, not patented, characterized by light violet-blue colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, semi-upright growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated open-pollination during July 2012 in a controlled environment in Hem, The Netherlands.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since July 2012 in Hem, The Netherlands and Elburn, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.